Brian Strecker, the Lawrence chef behind the Burning Barrel meat venture, speaks to Douglas County commissioners Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2015.

The Douglas County Commission will consider an extension of a conditional use permit for a still-unbuilt specialty butcher shop near Lecompton, which Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach and other area residents opposed when it was first considered two years ago.

Before commissioners at their 6 p.m. meeting will be a second one-year extension for the Burning Barrel, which Brian Strecker plans to build in the middle of a 30-acre property about four miles west of Lecompton at 292 North 2100 Road.

When the permit was before the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission two years ago, Strecker, who was a chef for 13 years at the now-closed downtown Lawrence restaurant Pachamamas, said he planned to process and sell hams, sausages, pork and beef at the shop.

Kobach led a number of Lecompton area residents opposing the permit before the planning commission. Kobach maintained that the permit was for a “hog processing plant” that violated the county’s agricultural zoning requirements. However, Strecker said the Burning Barrel would be a small operation that would provide a livelihood for himself, his partner and possibly two employees.

The conditions included in Strecker’s permit reflected a shop of the scope he described. Among its conditions, the shop would be limited to four full-time employees and two visits from commercial vehicles per day. Additional conditions would not allow Strecker to slaughter animals or make retail sales at the site.

Strecker, however, has not started construction of of his planned 640 square-foot butcher shop in the two years since obtaining the permit. In August 2016, county commissioners approved a one-year permit extension to allow the shop’s construction and will consider a second extension Wednesday.

In a July 10 letter to the county, Strecker wrote that finances had delayed the project but that he was now ready to move forward. Strecker wrote that blueprints for the shop had been completed and that he was looking for a contractor who could build the project within his budget.

In a memo to commissioners, Mary Miller, planner with the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Department, said planning staff has administratively approved a site plan change that would build the butcher shop on the site of a mobile home Strecker removed from the property in the last year. Staff recommends that the extension be approved.

Kobach was not among neighbors voicing opposition when the County Commission granted the first extension a year ago.

Kobach built a dwelling on his property near the proposed butcher shop site without first obtaining a proper permit. The dwelling is now an occupied single-family home within a metal agricultural building. The county’s handling of Kobach’s project led the County Commission to contract an independent review of the county’s zoning and codes department. That April 2016 report by consultant Austin Peters Group Inc. recommended that the department make 25 changes to improve responsiveness, best practices, fairness and professionalism.

The Douglas County Commission meets Wednesday in the Douglas County Courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts St. A complete agenda can be viewed at douglascountyks.org.